Anglesey, GB

A Michelin-starred surprise-menu restaurant in a former butcher's shop on Menai Bridge, where the kitchen sends out a no-choice run of small, sharply seasonal dishes built on local catch and produce. There is no a la carte; you eat what they cook that night. This is the island's special-occasion dinner, booked well ahead.

A family-run brasserie in Valley near Holyhead that leans on local seafood but threads in international dishes and a genuinely strong vegetarian side. Portions are generous and the seasonal menu changes often, which is why it pulls regulars from across the west of the island. A reliable mid-range lunch or dinner away from the tourist towns.

A waterfront seafood restaurant and cafe right on Red Wharf Bay, known for its chowder and for tables that look straight out over the tidal flats. It works for a casual coffee or a proper plate of fish depending on the time of day. Best at high tide when the bay fills in front of you.

A contemporary beach-house restaurant and bar in Rhosneigr doing generous modern Welsh cooking, with log fires, a wood-fired grill and rooms upstairs if you overdo the wine list. It is the surf village's grown-up dinner option, more polished than a pub but still relaxed. Good for a date night or a long lunch after the beach.

An 18th-century pub sitting right on the Anglesey Coastal Path at Red Wharf Bay, doing hearty plates like seafood chowder and its house Dragon pie alongside Sunday roasts. The big beer garden looks over the bay and it is properly dog friendly. A walkers'-and-locals' pub for a long lunch with a pint.

A small independent tapas and wine bar on Castle Street in Beaumaris pairing Welsh produce with Spanish technique, from croquetas to plates built on local seafood and meat. It is relaxed but the cooking is careful, and the wine list is the reason regulars linger. A good evening for sharing plates and one more glass.

A tiny small-plates restaurant on Menai Bridge's Dale Street with an inventive, frequently changing menu; the twice-baked cheese souffle is the dish people come back for. The room is cosy and the cooking punches above the price for the island. For couples or pairs who want something more adventurous than pub food.

A small back-street Italian just off the square in Menai Bridge, doing handmade pizzas, pasta and daily specials with free-range Welsh and Italian produce. It is intimate and evening-led, with a short list of good Italian wines. The casual, affordable counterpoint to the town's fancier rooms.

A modern Indian on Menai Bridge High Street built around the tandoor, widely rated as the best curry house on the island since it opened. The cooking is fresh and the front-of-house is friendly without being fussy. The dependable option when you want a proper sit-down curry rather than seafood again.

A Chinese and Thai restaurant in Holyhead with a broader, more modern menu than the usual takeaway, covering Cantonese classics and Thai curries. It is the strongest sit-down Asian option at the ferry-port end of the island. Good for a change of pace if you are based around Holyhead or Trearddur.

A beachfront cafe at Trearddur Bay packed with nautical bits and bottles of sand the owner has collected, doing hearty all-day food like steak sandwiches plus lighter bites. The draw is the waterside setting and the relaxed, dog-friendly feel. A solid post-swim or post-walk stop on the west coast.

A long-running family cafe and bistro a stone's throw from the beach in Moelfre, serving since the 1920s and still doing homemade cakes, lunches and a more substantial evening menu in a cottage garden setting. It is the heart of this north-east coast village. For a leisurely lunch when you are out toward Moelfre and Din Lligwy.

A small cafe with a dog-friendly garden tucked at remote Church Bay on the north-west coast, known for its scones with strawberries and cream and homemade savoury pies. It is the reward at the end of a quiet coast-path stretch far from the busy towns. For walkers who want tea and cake with a sea view.

An outdoor coffee shop at the Halen Mon sea-salt works near Brynsiencyn, with a sheltered canopy looking across the Menai Strait to Snowdonia. It keeps it simple: good coffee, homemade cakes and flapjack, and the chance to see where the island's famous salt is made. A scenic coffee stop rather than a full meal.

A beach-and-watersports cafe above Funsport on Beach Road in Rhosneigr, doing all-day breakfasts, fresh-made lunches and coffee roasted by Newborough's own Dragon Roastery. It is built for pre- and post-surf refuelling and showcases Welsh and Anglesey produce. The casual morning spot in the surf village.

The island's signature hill walk, a roughly 5-mile loop from Breakwater Country Park up Holyhead Mountain past an Iron Age hillfort to the cliffs above South Stack lighthouse. It climbs to the highest point on Anglesey for a full sweep of the Irish Sea and, on a clear day, Ireland and the Isle of Man. The hardest of the island's regular walks but worth the legs.

A flat, well-marked walk through Corsican pine forest out to the sand and across to the tidal island of Llanddwyn, running anywhere from a short stroll to a longer 8-mile circuit depending on the route you pick. It mixes shaded forest tracks with open beach and the island's lighthouses and ruins. Easy underfoot and family friendly, with the one catch being the tide.

An easy out-and-back along the south-east tip from Penmon toward the Trwyn Du lighthouse and the channel facing Puffin Island, with the priory ruins and dovecote at the start. Short, flat and rewarding, it is good for sunset and for spotting seals in the channel. A gentle option when you do not want a climb.

A flat, scenic stretch of the Anglesey Coastal Path hugging the huge tidal bay between Red Wharf Bay and Benllech, easy walking with the Ship Inn at one end as a natural turnaround. The bay empties to a vast sand and mudflat at low tide and fills dramatically as it comes in. Good for an easy linear walk you can reward with lunch.

A moderate northern stretch of the coastal path from the fishing village of Cemaes out to the clifftop church of Llanbadrig, said to be founded by St Patrick after a shipwreck. It runs over low heathland cliffs above small coves on the island's wild, quieter north coast. For walkers who want the rugged feel without the South Stack climb.

A short network of easy paths through a former quarry and brickworks site at Holyhead, with a quarry pool, ruined chimney and views along the country's longest breakwater. It is flat, well surfaced and a good warm-up or family option below the bigger Holyhead Mountain walks. The visitor cafe and parking make it an easy start point.

A gentle clifftop section of the coast path from Moelfre village past the lifeboat station and the memorial to the Royal Charter shipwreck, on to the sandy Lligwy beach. It is short, mostly easy and threads village, sea cliffs and beach together. A relaxed walk that pairs neatly with the Din Lligwy ruins inland.

An hour-long wildlife boat trip from Beaumaris pier out around Puffin Island and under the Menai bridges, with skippers who narrate the shipwrecks, caves and history as you go. Seals are reliable, and puffins and other seabirds turn up in season. A genuine highlight for families and anyone who wants to see the coast from the water.

An indoor aquarium near Brynsiencyn focused on the marine life of the waters around Wales, from octopus and seahorses to a walk-through shark tank, with a conservation and breeding role behind the scenes. There is a playground and cafe to round out a half day. The island's main wet-weather family standby.

A tropical butterfly and small-animal centre near Menai Bridge with a walk-through butterfly house, reptiles, birds and meerkats, plus indoor and outdoor play. It is compact and aimed squarely at younger children. A short indoor option to combine with something else on a damp day.

A small craft distillery at Gaerwen making gin and rum with local botanicals, where the head distiller runs intimate tours and tastings and you can even bottle your own spirit. Groups are kept small, so it feels personal rather than processed. An adult afternoon or pre-dinner outing away from the family attractions.

A free art gallery and museum near Llangefni holding the Kyffin Williams collection and the wildlife art of Charles Tunnicliffe, alongside changing exhibitions and a social-history museum of the island. It is a calm, well-curated indoor stop with a cafe and craft shop. Good for a rainy hour or anyone interested in Welsh art.

A long-established watersports school on Rhosneigr beach running surf, paddleboard, windsurf and kitesurf lessons for all levels, with hire if you already know what you are doing. The gently shelving bay is forgiving for beginners. The way to actually get on the water rather than just watch it.

A clifftop nature reserve above Holyhead with a visitor centre, the little viewpoint of Ellin's Tower and front-row seats on a noisy seabird colony in spring. Puffins, guillemots, razorbills and choughs all breed here, and the reserve itself is open all the time and free. An outdoor wildlife stop that doubles as the start of the bigger hill walk.

The last and most technically perfect of Edward I's Welsh castles, a UNESCO-listed concentric fortress with a working moat in the Georgian town of Beaumaris. It was never finished, so the outer walls stay low and you can read the whole defensive plan at a glance. Good for a flat, easy hour with kids who like ramparts and water.

A white lighthouse on its own rock island off Holyhead Mountain, reached by a steep flight of around 400 steps and a small bridge across the surge below. The cliffs above are an RSPB seabird colony, so spring and early summer bring puffins, guillemots and razorbills. Best for anyone happy to trade their knees for one of the most dramatic coast views on the island.

A tidal islet at the end of Newborough beach tied to St Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers, with two small towers, a ruined church and Celtic crosses scattered along its spine. You walk out across the sand at low tide through pine forest first, so it doubles as a beach day. For couples and anyone who likes a walk with a story attached.

Thomas Telford's 1826 chain bridge across the Menai Strait, one of the first large suspension bridges in the world and still the road link between the island and the mainland at Menai Bridge. There is a footway, so you can walk out over the tidal race known as the Swellies. Pair it with a coffee in the town for an easy half hour.

The southeast tip of the island where the black-and-white Trwyn Du lighthouse stands offshore with its automatic bell, looking across a narrow channel to Puffin Island. Behind it sit the ruins of a 6th-century priory, a holy well and a restored stone dovecote. A pebble-beach spot for sunset, seal-spotting and a cup of tea from the little hut.

An 18th-century mansion on the Menai Strait, now National Trust, best known for Rex Whistler's vast dining-room mural and the woodland where you stand a real chance of seeing a red squirrel. The terrace gardens drop toward the water with Snowdonia filling the far shore. A relaxed half day for house-and-garden people and families who want a walk after.

The stone footprint of a late-Roman-era farming settlement in a field near Moelfre, with circular and rectangular building bases inside an enclosing wall, plus a ruined chapel and a Neolithic burial chamber close by. It is free, unstaffed and almost always empty. For anyone who likes ancient sites without ticket queues or crowds.

A long curve of pale sand backed by the Corsican pine of Newborough Forest, with views to Llanddwyn island at one end and the Llyn Peninsula across the water. The forest paths and the beach combine into a flexible day that works for dogs, kites and long flat walks. Wide enough that even a busy summer day never feels packed.